The Battered Bastards of Baseball

The Battered Bastards of Baseball takes place in Portland, Oregon, a town that lost its longtime minor-league affiliate. So Bing Russell formed a single-A team to operate outside the confines of major-league baseball. In 1973, the Mavericks were the only independent baseball team in America, consisting of players that no other team wanted.

Director:Chapman Way, Maclain WayStars:Todd Field, Kurt Russell, Rob NelsonSummary: The Battered Bastards of Baseball is one of baseball's last great, unheralded true stories. In 1973, Hollywood veteran Bing Russell (best known for playing Deputy Clem on "Bonanza") created the only independent baseball team in America at the time, the legendary Portland Mavericks. Bing operated without a Major League affiliation while playing in a city that was considered a wasteland for professional baseball. Tryouts for the Mavericks, which were open to the public, were filled with hopefuls who arrived in droves from every state in America, many of whom had been rejected by organized baseball. Skeptics agreed it would never work. But Bing's Mavericks generated unprecedented success: they shattered attendance records, signed Kurt Russell - Bing's son - as a player and team Vice President, produced the most successful batboy in baseball (filmmaker Todd Field), re-launched the controversial career of Jim Bouton.